A few comments on the videos, and then some final thoughts about this trip: In the video of the island dance practice, you see a dance class. Students of all ages learn traditional Maori dances. Most start as very young children, but there are certainly older students as well. Our group was invited to participate here, and one of the dancers is a member of our team. The man in the white shirt with his back to the camera is actually the Minister of Culture. He is a really good dancer. The little boy lying in the front is his son. Boys wear their hair long until the family has a hair-cutting ceremony.
The kids singing at the school: I had to film that secretly from the back, while hiding behind those two rather large ladies in front of me, because the teacher who was leading the song is quite fierce and I was scared to death of her! I was afraid that if she saw me filming or taking pictures, she would have me "stripped off and flayed". (I heard her make that threat to the kids for some infraction, so I was trying not to call attention to myself. I'm sure she meant it in jest...)
The video of the opening of the Pacific Leader's Forum was about 4 hours of what you see in the short clip. Singing, dancing, drumming, all sorts of celebration. Each leader was carried in on a pa'ata, which is a sort of platform, carried by very strong island men. The leader of Samoa was a bit more challenging than New Zealand Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who is a rather small woman. Henry Puna is the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands and quite handsome. He sings, and the ladies at the library referred to him as "Elvis" Puna.
All in all, it was the most amazing trip. Am I glad to be home? Absolutely. Would I go back again? Absolutely. In fact, the ladies at the library already have a project lined up for me, on my next visit! I appreciated how quickly we were welcomed into the community. Tourism is their number one industry, so they know how to do it right, but I felt that our volunteering really helped us to get to know people, too. The people of the Cook Islands were warm and hospitable and it was a bit sad to leave them. A few of our volunteer team are still there working, as they opted for the three-week program, and it was a bit hard to leave them behind as well. It's wonderful that you can start out as complete strangers and end up as friends in such a short time.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Monday, September 3, 2012
Saturday, September 1, 2012
It is the last day, and I am ready to go home. Last night, we went out to dinner at a restaurant and were able to do a short meet-and-greet with Hilary Clinton. The islanders love her, and she is called "Aunty Hills" by the locals. Pictures of that to follow, as soon as I get back to the states.
A brief discussion of the library, as it relates to the Cook Islands. There are so many books that there is absolutely no shelf room. All donations are cataloged and added to the collection, no matter how old, out-dated, or tatty. There is no money to support this library. The money for the two paid staff members, all the books, utilities and supplies has to be generated by the library. They sell locally written Cook Island histories, bananas, shoe shine kits, purses, used books, cookies, coffee and tea, and they have admission fees to the attached Cook Island museum, for which they are also responsible. New books are rare. They are getting things now that Bismarck would have received new last year. Or the year before. There is one laptop computer that is used by staff members. Wireless is available, but Jean berates patrons loudly and vociferously if they try to use the wireless and are not paying members of the library. It does have a small membership fee for residents, and a large fee for visitors, partially refunded if they return all of their books.
It seems to be the gossip center of the island, and many people stop in every day to exchange local news with the staff. A woman they all knew died recently, and there was much lively discussion about her having chosen to "join Davey Jones' locker" rather than having a traditional funeral. Burial at sea is legal and rather common here. While there are a number of adult patrons who use the library on a regular basis, I only saw one or two children, and the staff report that they do not get very many young readers, though the children's collection is fairly large. Reading is not a priority here, and many houses have only the Bible and no other books. Most of the adult readers seem to be Kiwis or Aussies. I saw few island natives. Still, it does have an important place in the community and I have been invited to return and to do more projects. Before I was allowed to shelve books, I was questioned on my proficiency with the Dewey Decimal system. It appears that I have sufficient skill, since I was allowed to remove my shoes and shelve books one afternoon.
A brief discussion of the library, as it relates to the Cook Islands. There are so many books that there is absolutely no shelf room. All donations are cataloged and added to the collection, no matter how old, out-dated, or tatty. There is no money to support this library. The money for the two paid staff members, all the books, utilities and supplies has to be generated by the library. They sell locally written Cook Island histories, bananas, shoe shine kits, purses, used books, cookies, coffee and tea, and they have admission fees to the attached Cook Island museum, for which they are also responsible. New books are rare. They are getting things now that Bismarck would have received new last year. Or the year before. There is one laptop computer that is used by staff members. Wireless is available, but Jean berates patrons loudly and vociferously if they try to use the wireless and are not paying members of the library. It does have a small membership fee for residents, and a large fee for visitors, partially refunded if they return all of their books.
It seems to be the gossip center of the island, and many people stop in every day to exchange local news with the staff. A woman they all knew died recently, and there was much lively discussion about her having chosen to "join Davey Jones' locker" rather than having a traditional funeral. Burial at sea is legal and rather common here. While there are a number of adult patrons who use the library on a regular basis, I only saw one or two children, and the staff report that they do not get very many young readers, though the children's collection is fairly large. Reading is not a priority here, and many houses have only the Bible and no other books. Most of the adult readers seem to be Kiwis or Aussies. I saw few island natives. Still, it does have an important place in the community and I have been invited to return and to do more projects. Before I was allowed to shelve books, I was questioned on my proficiency with the Dewey Decimal system. It appears that I have sufficient skill, since I was allowed to remove my shoes and shelve books one afternoon.
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